like crazy

I told most of my movie enthusiast friends to check out Like Crazy.

It is about an enduring long distance relationship.

I especially like how the story ran, it was not what was shown but what wasn't.

There was ample space to allow you to mull over what has happened.

I thought it was genius how they don't spell everything out, trusting the viewer's intuition.

I won't write about the story line or how it turns out, but I think I can't get away from writing about long distance relationships.

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It is easy to mistake real conflict and irreconcilable values with trivialities grouped under an umbrella hurdle, distance.

In my story, I truly believed that it was the distance.

In hindsight, it was actually the distance that allowed the relationship to endure.

I can't say anymore, I think without feeling like it's wrong.

Golden

As I was making myself a nutella sandwich--yes, at midnight after I gave my all attending a Bikram class despite my recovering left glut. No judgement ;)

Back to my story.

I was making a sandwich when I noticed a golden cup--tumbler.

It was one of a pair. From what I know, the other had been, well... throw away years before. After intensive use, if it is any consolation.

This set was, when I think about now--maybe some sort of beginning.

In fact, if a book is to be written, two chapters will mention the cups. And, one chapter will start--or end with one of the cups.

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I never really used mine, that's why it still looks new. And also came as a surprise that it is suddenly just THERE.

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I am suddenly reminded of an old poem I once had to memorise...

Drink to me with thine eyes,
And (I forget this part)
Or leave a kiss within the cup
And I'll not ask for wine.

If you want to know, for no other reason but the cup reference :)

when it rains

It was not too perfect waking up to find out that I had an "eyeless" zit on my chin. I'm not sure if people know what I mean by that--unless they've had one before. It is the seemingly invisible bump that hurts like crazy and takes a very long time to heal.

There are more important thing though, beyond clear skin. Like breakfast. Which was good. Mandarins, yogurt, bread and butter while chatting with my parents through Facetime--which is great. You won't imagine how much that saves overseas call fees!

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Fast forward to yoga class. Good class. A lot of stretching. Great set.

I was feeling really well until I got up from the last shavasana and realised that my left glut seemed strained. It was so painful that I limped the rest of the day.

Oh well, no pain, no gain.

I kept telling myself, it meant I did as much as I could....

If the pain doesn't go away till Monday, I'll have it checked.

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Then there was the lovely lunch :)

Then I spilt the soy sauce all over the fish.

Hello kidney stones.

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I was loking forward to the movie we were watching later that night. I had been waiting for months to see this flick.

As we were walking out to go the theatre, it suddenly poured! Really hard.

There was no escaping. We were at the middle of the intersection an any covered area was at least forty meters away.

We settled under a huge tree--which was not a lot of help.

I was offered a (clean) hanky, so I had some semblance of protection or shield--at least it kept the water off my eyes.

The cabs won't stop.

Calls to the cab companies went unanswered.

Thank God my drenched mobile survived the "storm".

Soaked, we decided to run back home for shelter.

The reality though, was I was not able to run. More, unwilling.

There was no way I could get more wet and I was not about to risk injuring myself if I slip. Remember the left glut?

Did I mention that the road back was at a good thirty degree incline?

We got home thirty minutes before the movie was starting.

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Made some calls.

Threw stuff into the dryer.

Took a scalding hot shower.

All in fifteen minutes.

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After that mad fifteen minutes, we were in a cab.

My clothes still damp.

In rubber flip flops.

And a dinner dress.

With dripping hair.

And a borrowed jacket--man's jacket.

Mustard dress. Silver flip flops. Black jacket.

I looked homeless.

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We were late.

We missed fifteen minutes--maybe ten.

I blame queuing for popcorn and soda.

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Wonderful movie!

Delicious dinner. Lovely dessert.

Good conversation over coffee (tea for me) afterwards.

Overall, enjoyable Saturday.

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On the way home, my dress strap broke.

Then, the person I was with, sneezed.

pinoy sunday

Thanks to my friend's foreign colleague, we got wind of Pinoy Sunday.

It delights me whenever I come across good Filipino movies or movies with Filipino actors. This one in particular had all Filipino cast with a foreign director.

As we were watching--on a Saturday (BUT... seated on a couch!) we were talking about experiences working away from home and agreed that no matter where you are in the world, the stories are well, the same.

I won't go as far as writing these stories, as I don't want to spoil anything. But I do want to say that these ring true to the life of a Filipino abroad, and I found myself laughing and feeling that pinch in my heart almost alternately.

Manuel and Dado were factory workers in Taiwan and as you guessed, had an interesting incident involving a couch. Obviously, it wasn't just a couch. Like all other proverbial errrr, couches.

No heavy drama here (which I love!).

There were some things that got lost when the movie was subtitled--but that couldn't be helped. I'm sure though that people who can't understand Tagalog (that is the Filipino language), will warm to Epy (Manuel) and Bayani (Dado) who played the lead roles.

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I hope that more people watch this. It is also a good reminder that for some people, Sundays could be quite literally the only thing that they look forward to--for months even. So maybe, one ought to cut them some slack if they could be quite chatty or seemingly rowdy, remind yourself that if you were in their shoes, you'd be excited on Sundays too.

Let Me In

This isn't just another vampire movie. It was quite moving. I like how the gory scenes were presented off necessity.

I love how the shots seemed to be taken lower--from a child's perspective.

I am liking Chloe Moretz more and more! She--or her manager does a great job on picking her movies like (500) Days of Summer and Kick Ass.

I don't feel that this is a thriller or a horror movie, it seems closer to a coming of age love story.

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I now want to see the Swedish original Let the Right One In.

Wayfarer's Chapel

We went to the loveliest chapel today!You could hardly see it because it is mostly made of glass.I wish I was able to take more photos. Actually, I wish more that I was able to spend more time inside....The view from the garden is stunning too!We were in a rush as we were racing to get another spot before sunset, but I was lucky enough to see the notes on the bricks.The shadows on the bricks make me smile :)

The Next Three Days

I just saw The Next Three Days and I'm sorry I did not catch it in the cinema. The story unfolds quite slowly, slower that one would have anticipated--but it worked! I love Russel Crowe, and perhaps love him more now. I admit that I am able to name a few other people who could have pulled the role off too, but in my mind he was perfect.

Love & Other Drugs

I saw the movie today and I must say that I liked it.

(I especially like how it was not too hollywood about the female form--it almost felt like a indie film in that aspect.)

I would have liked it more if Jake was a better actor :-p

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It is interesting how some people refuse to be with someone they need. Even if they are in love.

There is something vulnerable about needing someone. What more needing someone, more than that someone needs you?

An idealist will say that you stay with someone because you want to, not because you need to.

And overly analysing individuals would think "What if I love him AND need him too? Does that count?". The answer they would give themselves would be that it is okay as long as the love is more that the need part.

How do you know?

I think at some point one would consider to...surrender.

And accept the fact that maybe, everyone needs someone. And there is no wrong in that.

Maybe that is the leap of faith that you have to take to allow yourself to be truly happy.

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After the movie, the person I was with noticed that I suddenly had rashes on the right side of my face. My face--which was clear throughout dinner.

I thought maybe it was the sushi? I enumerated everything I ate today and there was nothing new or unusual.

Maybe it is my new shampoo? My growing out fringe would hit the right side of my face, maybe that's it?

I'm going to stop using it and if this clears, we got ourselves the allergen.

Or not.

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It has happened twice--over the same stressful phase. The dermatologist couldn't identify it as anything but an allergy and despite availability of allergy tests, the allergen was never ever discovered.

Later, when that phase finally passed, I thought that maybe it was the stress.

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I bet a certain someone will say that something about Maggie stressed me out.

never let me go

I admit this much...I saw the first third of the movie thrice, the second third twice and the last third once. I didn't mind. I loved the movie!

I especially liked Carey Mulligan's voice--I remember how I liked how she narrated parts of An Education.

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I watched the movie not knowing what it is about, except that it had pretty good ratings. That was enough. I like being surprised, so I prefer not knowing the plot.

I was surprised by the premise, and was not quite prepared for what was coming. After I finished the movie, my heart was hurting :(

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I highly recommend watching the movie (if you are not in a delicate state).

For me, it is at Atonement caliber.

don't you (forget about me)

A very lovely person got me a dvd box set of John Hughes movies :)

I had to stop myself from pulling an all-nighter to watch the movies back to back to back.

Till now, I can't decide which one I like most. Maybe if Patrick Dempsey didn't resurrect to be McDreamy, I would have said Some Kind of Wonderful.

eat, pray, love

I imagined the movie to be horrible, only because I don't seem to hear anyone say it was pretty good, considering I have a lot of movie buff (rochness counted) friends.

For me it was just okay. Something you could watch in HBO if shown--and you have nothing else to do. Or to keep as background as you are polishing your shoes or sewing loose buttons.

While I had learned a long time ago not to compare books with movies (plus I didn't read the eat, pray, love book), I don't think a lot of people do the same. In effect, they don't really have a fair take on the movie. In most cases, the books are better than the movies. I can only name a few that don't follow this trend.

Lord of the Rings Trilogy <--- movie wins
Red Dragon <--- tie!
The Notebook <--- movie wins (but I'm biased because I don't really like romance novels)

Going back to eat, pray, love, I think what seems to be missing from the movie was inspiration. Somehow when the lights turned on, I felt exactly the same what I did before I watched. Maybe slightly more sleepy. I feel neutral about it, which is about the worst thing anyone can say about a movie. Well, it got a blog entry out of me--though a bland one, so maybe it doesn't really count.

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On a side note, I can't wait to watch The Song of Fire and Ice's first book The Game of Thrones Series (10 episodes) produced by HBO.

L'Arnacoeur

I don't know where to begin...nor where to end. I'm trying to recall the scene where I laughed the hardest or stretched by lips to smile the widest. I can't.

I enjoyed this movie so much that I was singing The Time of My Life the whole day. I even youtubed for Patrick Swayze's classic stint.

I highly, highly recommend watching the movie. I think Romain Duris made the movie.

the girl with the dragon tattoo

A definite must see! Gripping--I was anxious, overwhelmed, sorrowful, angry, relieved and in horror throughout the movie. Not a lot different from how Boys Don't Cry made me feel when I saw it for the first time.

When I think about Hollywood coming up with their own version with Daniel Craig and Rooney Mara (whom I have only seen for two minutes in Youth in Revolt), I wonder how it would fair. The Swedish version put the bar up there.

Somehow, I keep imagining Keira Knightly playing Lisbeth.

flah fay

Ever since I saw Despicable Me, I couldn't stop saying "it's so fluffy, I'm gonna die" and every now and then, I feel the sudden urge to shout "IT'S SO FLAHFAAAAAAAY!"

letters to juliet

I saw the movie today, I must say that Gael Garcia Bernal was spot on. The grandma and Amanda Seyfried were well into the characters as well.

I wish I could say the same for the actor who played Charlie...somehow, I just found him lacking.

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The movie for me is forgettable. I'm not saying it sucked, it didn't.

And not without moments.

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I thought there were scenes that were just all too familiar--that I wish weren't. That I hope aren't familiar to a lot of people.

Those scenes are not to difficult to recognise.

Those scenes somewhat reminded me to remind myself of an old lesson.

I hope that if for some unfortunate reason, I find myself in a similar situation I should think twice (or thrice) before saying "Oh, that's okay".

cry baby

Fine. I'd admit to it. I did cry--more than a little while watching Toy Story 3.

I'm not going to write any spoilers, but I am going to say however that anyone who is close to me would understand why I could so relate to the storyline. That is assuming of course, they see the movie.

A little side note here, I used to have the FP telephone when I was a kid, I was somewhat surprised to see a very, very familiar, yet a "new toy" from a Toy Story perspective.

Anyways, I have to thank my grandma for getting me that telephone way back when :)

a single man

Image from here.

I love this movie.

And there are countless reasons why. Where to begin?

First of, Colin Firth was stellar! He had been one of my favorite actors for a few years now, but it is the first time I have seen him at this caliber.

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Every scene looked like an interesting photograph. I also like the color effects. It enhanced the retro styling of the movie.

Styling. This brings me to the costume and make up. And not to mention Julianne Moore's dinner dress. I'd write more about the styling but it's late and I don't want to be up till morning writing this entry.

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I love how the story narrates. Colin's voice helped a lot too.

It tugged something in my heart--and stomach! And although the imagery was very controlled, everything felt very much real.

I was teary eyed ten minutes into the movie--in awe all the way through.

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I don't know if I would watch this as much as 500 Days of Summer, but I know in my book, this is a must see.

you know it's true

I saw Robin Hood today, the one with Russell Crowe. Although I wouldn't say that it sucked, I felt myself anticipating a kick ass moment that somehow, never happened. I didn't recognise any moments.

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It reminds me of when I saw Robin Hood, Prince of Thieves with Kevin Costner. I looooooved it! I don't know how I'd feel about it now--probably not impressed, only because I'm no longer that kid and I had seen so many movies since.

Still...whenever I see that Bryan Adams music video, I can't help but smile.

management

I had been postponing watching this movie. I'm glad however, that I was finally able to see it. Steve Zahn made the movie for me, in fact the cast was really good. Don't get me started with Woody Harrelson! I wouldn't have picked Jennifer Aniston though.

I'm not sure how the director did it, somewhat each act seemed somewhat more real. I won't give out spoilers, but I would say that it took cute out of the equation and left the bare facts to be seen.

I liked this movie.

dear zachary

I saw Dear Zachary today. It was created by Kurt for his friend's son--so that he would know his father who passed away before he was born.

While it is a documentary of a man's life, it felt like a movie--a very emotional, pinches-in-the-heart, I-feel-for-you-and-that's-why-I'm-crying film.

Don't tell me I didn't warn you. I highly recommend watching it. Make sure you have a box of tissue beside you when you do. You'll need it. I did.